Deck 11: Conflict Theories

Question 1

Group conflict theory begins with which of the following assumptions?

A) The more complex a society becomes,the greater the probability that there will be culture conflict.
B) The law is a codification of mutually agreed upon societal norms and values.
C) The state acts in the long-term interests of capitalism regardless of the nature of the groups within it.
D) There will always be conflict between groups in society.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

In Vold's group conflict theory,which of the following would constitute a "minority group"?

A) the government
B) a youth gang
C) management in a corporation
D) the bourgeoisie

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Based on the work of Sellin,which of the following describes a situation where culture conflict is likely to be minimized?

A) when the laws of one cultural group are extended to cover the territory of another
B) when conduct norms clash on border areas between distinct cultures
C) as a result of colonization,migration,or immigration
D) when a society is culturally homogeneous

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which of the following theories assumes that crime reflects a clash between the conduct norms of immigrant cultures and the conduct norms of the dominant culture?

A) instrumental Marxism
B) cultural conflict theory
C) group conflict theory
D) structural Marxism

Question 5

According to Vold,strikes or lockouts that may result in violence or property damage is representative of what type of group-based conflict resulting in criminal behaviour?

A) conflict between competing minority groups
B) conflict between the state and minority groups
C) conflict between a minority group and the laws of the dominant majority
D) conflict between competing interest groups vying for power

Question 6

Which of the following major propositions is the basis of Quinney's conflict theory of crime?

A) Conceptions of crime are universal.
B) Criminal definitions are determined by the powerful.
C) Criminality is an inherent human behaviour.
D) Crime is a function of agreed upon norms.

Question 7

Aruna Papp argues that there is a distinction between Western domestic violence and the abuse of some women in immigrant communities.What is the distinction she refers to?

A) The victims of domestic violence in Western cultures are less likely to report the crime than those in immigrant communities.
B) The immigrant community is usually unaware that abuse is taking place in the home while Western kin generally are fully aware.
C) Western kin of abuse victims are horrified by the crime and immigrant kin view it as an approved practice upholding a cultural code.
D) Immigrant families are generally unaware of Western laws regarding abuse and Western abusers are more skilled at avoiding detection.

Question 8

According to Quinney,conceptions of crime are constructed and diffused in the segments of society by various means of communication.Which of the following is the most dominant means of communication?

A) the state
B) the police
C) the media
D) word-of-mouth

Question 9

According to Sellin,social values that receive the protection of the criminal law are those valued by which of the following groups?

A) immigrant groups
B) the capitalist class
C) the dominant interest groups
D) the state

Question 10

What term does Sellin use to describe the "conduct norms" embodied in the criminal law that represent the values of the dominant group?

A) dominant conduct norms
B) institutionalized conduct norms
C) cultural conflict
D) criminal norms

Question 11

According to Sellin,what is the result in complex societies when diverse cultural groups maintain distinct conduct norms or cultural rules governing appropriate conduct?

A) civil war
B) state mediation of conflicts
C) conflict between the conduct norms
D) an increase in social cohesion

Question 12

In Vold's group conflict theory,which of the following best illustrates a crime that results from conflict between competing interest groups vying for power?

A) a revolution to overthrow the government
B) serial killing
C) a conscientious objector of war
D) a so-called honour killing

Question 13

According to Sellin,what is the expression of culture conflict when individuals who act based on the conduct norms of their own cultural group find themselves in violation of the conduct norms that the dominant group has enacted into law?

A) a crime
B) an act of the cultural resistance
C) an indiscretion
D) an institutionalized conduct norm

Question 14

What is the basis of Vold's group conflict theory?

A) competing goals can be a binding force for groups in homogeneous societies
B) those not connected to groups are more likely to be delinquent
C) crime takes place more frequently in societies with more cohesive groups
D) crime results from conflict between the interests of diverse groups

Question 15

Who wrote Culture Conflict and Crime (1938),which focused on how cultural conflict between the conduct norms of different cultural groups can contribute to crime?

A) Marx
B) Vold
C) Quinney
D) Sellin

Question 16

According to Vold,delinquent gangs that break the law are representative of what type of group-based conflicts resulting in criminal behaviour?

A) conflict between competing minority groups
B) conflict between the state and minority groups
C) conflict between a minority group and the laws of the dominant majority
D) conflict between competing interest groups vying for power

Question 17

Based on Vold's group conflict theory,which of the following best illustrates a crime that results from conflict between the behaviour of a minority group and the laws and regulations of the dominant society?

A) revolutions against the state
B) serial killing
C) civil disobedience resulting in arrests
D) striking by unionized employees that turn violent

Question 18

Which of the following concepts best explains honour killings and their condemnation in Canada?

A) cultural conflict
B) relative autonomy
C) social groupings
D) interest group norms

Question 19

Which of the following is Vold's group conflict theory unable to explain?

A) intragroup crime
B) ideologically motivated crimes
C) politically motivated crimes
D) intergroup crime

Question 20

Which of the following terms would Sellin apply to describe the practice of female genital mutilation in Canada?

A) cultural conflict
B) cultural incompatibility
C) conduct norms
D) criminal norms

Question 21

Which of the following definitions of crime is held by left realists?

A) criminals "were born with inherent evil as a predestined path"
B) crime is "antisocial behaviour involving people who lack values"
C) crime can be seen as the "sum total of poor parenting,poor decision-making and weak values"
D) criminals are only "citizens without means to access goals"

Question 22

Which of the following concepts is most closely associated with Marxist theories of crime?

A) the social reality of crime
B) culture conflict
C) the mode of production
D) conduct norms

Question 23

Which of the following is an example of a crime control program that would fit with the perspective of left realists?

A) scared straight
B) solitary confinement
C) three strikes rule
D) neighbourhood watch

Question 24

Which of the following best reflects the structural Marxists conclusions on corporate crime?

A) Corporate crime costs more than conventional crime but work and occupation-related deaths are less than deaths from homicide and manslaughter.
B) Corporate crime costs less than conventional crime but work and occupation-related deaths outnumber deaths from homicide and manslaughter.
C) Corporate crime costs less than conventional crime and work and occupation-related deaths are less than deaths from homicide and manslaughter.
D) Corporate crime costs more than conventional crime and work and occupation-related deaths outnumber deaths from homicide and manslaughter.

Question 25

According to structural Marxists,which of the following is the state's main role?

A) to preserve the political power of current elites
B) to ensure that contracts are upheld in the courts
C) to preserve the long-term interests of the capitalist class
D) to ensure that lawbreakers are found and punished

Question 26

Canada's anticombines legislation is an example of which of the following?

A) relative autonomy
B) pure capitalist interest
C) surplus population
D) collective bargaining

Question 27

Structural Marxists argue that the state is relatively independent of the ruling class.What is their term for this condition?

A) laissez-faire
B) political independence
C) superstructural diversity
D) relative autonomy

Question 28

For which of the following reasons has the instrumental Marxist position been criticized?

A) the base/superstructure metaphor is interpreted too loosely
B) not all laws implemented by the state are in the immediate interest of the ruling class
C) the impact of structural reasons for the ruling class's actions may be overemphasized
D) the ruling class is portrayed as a complex,shifting group

Question 29

Which perspective is most likely to focus on street crime because it is concentrated within the working class and other marginalized groups?

A) instrumental Marxism
B) group conflict
C) left realism
D) structural Marxism

Question 30

Which elements make up the "square of crime" mentioned by left realists?

A) victim,offender,police,public
B) offender,witness,judge,lawyer
C) members of the public,media,legislation,judicial system
D) victims,bystanders,first responders,offenders

Question 31

Which of the following is one of the arguments that Greenberg puts forth to explain the causes of juvenile delinquency?

A) Juveniles are excluded from access to income and become surplus population.
B) Delinquency is created because they become radicalized in urban neighbourhoods.
C) Adolescent theft occurs because of a lack of appreciation for the long-term impact of a criminal record.
D) Youth are deliberately targeted by the state for arrest and punishment.

Question 32

According to Marxist criminologists,which of the following best represents the roots of conflict and hence crime?

A) the structure of capitalist society
B) pathologies of individual offender
C) the biological and genetic make-up of offenders
D) intragroup conflict among those within the working classes

Question 33

Which of the following schools of thought are Marxist theories of criminality most closely associated with?

A) the consensus perspective
B) the conflict perspective
C) psychological theories of crime
D) feminist theories of crime

Question 34

"The state is the direct instrument of the ruling or capitalist class." Which of the following perspectives is most closely associated with that statement?

A) structural Marxism
B) left realism
C) group conflict theory
D) instrumental Marxism

Question 35

Which of these perspectives uses victimization surveys to examine the problem of crime for the working class?

A) instrumental Marxism
B) radical feminism
C) structural Marxism
D) left realism

Question 36

According to Spitzer,which of the following groups is an example of how capitalism indirectly creates a problematic surplus population?

A) student radicals
B) laid-off workers
C) the unemployed
D) those who use drugs to be able to cope with work

Question 37

According to Greenberg,which of the following is an example of a surplus population within the context of a Marxian theory of deviance?

A) incarcerated offenders
B) juveniles
C) females in their reproductive years
D) new immigrants

Question 38

Left realism was developed because Marxist theories were deficient at which of the following?

A) taking a global perspective
B) addressing the harm caused by street crime
C) providing testable hypotheses
D) bringing about revolutionary change

Question 39

Which of the following does the structural Marxist perspective contend?

A) The law exclusively represents the interests of the dominant capitalist class.
B) The notion of "equality before the law" reflects the substantive equalities of class,race,and gender in the economic sphere.
C) Laws that benefit the less powerful reflect an ideological need to develop a widespread consent for the existing social order.
D) The formal equality of each individual in the legal sphere extends to the economic sphere.

Question 40

Which of the following is one of the key criticisms of instrumental Marxism?

A) American society is as unique as is portrayed.
B) The state is more powerful than is accounted for.
C) Criminal law is not considered in its most modern form.
D) The capitalist class is presented as a unified group.

Question 41

According to Sellin's cultural conflict theory,criminal norms refer to the norms that predominate among criminal offenders

Question 42

Quinney's group conflict theory argues that all social groups have the power to influence policy.

Question 43

According to Quinney's group conflict theory the powerful dominate the formulation of law but not the administration of law.

Question 44

Marx himself did not develop a theory of crime.

Question 45

Vold's group conflict theory is interested in the process of law creation as it relates to the activities of antagonistic interest groups in the broader community.

Question 46

Conduct norms represent the agreed upon behaviours within cultural groups.

Question 47

Instrumental Marxists contend that the state has relative independence from the capitalist class and is therefore able to enact laws that are not in the immediate interests of the capitalist class.

Question 48

For left realists,"square of crime" refers to the intersection of offenders,the capitalist class,the state,and criminal law.

Question 49

According to Greenberg,juveniles move toward delinquency because they are excluded from lawful sources of income.

Question 50

Vold's group conflict theory pays particular attention to violence that occurs between competing criminal groups and gangs.

Question 51

Marxist criminologists view conflict as rooted in the structure of capitalist society (capitalist economic relations).

Question 52

Left realists emphasize alternatives to the criminal justice system in controlling crime.

Question 53

Structural Marxists take a more general approach to the role of institutions in controlling capitalism than instrumental Marxists.

Question 54

According to Sellin,how a crime is defined is very much influenced by the character and interests of those groups in society that have the most power.

Question 55

Marxist research on corporate crime focuses on those who are outside the sphere of production.

Question 56

According to Vold's group conflict theory,violence that erupts during a strike by a trade union is an example of crimes that occur when there is a conflict between the behaviour of a minority group and the laws of the dominant majority.

Question 57

Marxist theories tend to focus on better understanding the individual pathologies of criminal offenders.

Question 58

One of the critiques of Instrumental Marxist perspectives on crime is that it ignores laws that are contradictory to the position of the powerful capitalist class.

Question 59

Left idealism views Marxist views of crime as holistic and all-encompassing.

Question 60

Spitzer argued that the criminalization of much behaviour is directed toward those problem populations who are surplus to the labour market.

Question 61

Left realists use the victimization survey to capture a more realistic picture of crime.

Question 62

Left realists have been criticized for failing to take into account the political,economic,and cultural history of the society in which crime occurs.